Morning (9:15 - 11:45) -

Strengths:
  • A LOT of support if you want to try something new
  • Improving school-wide collaboration (reducing silos)
  • Public Wi-Fi
  • Students (most) have access at home
  • Openness to new ideas
  • What we have is current, in terms of SW and HW tools
  • Motivated faculty and staff
  • SUper teamwork between Tech and Academics
  • Opportunity for professional growth
  • Strong faculty student relationships, sense of USM community, and faculty who genuinely care about students
  • Multiplatform (Windows/PC, Apple/Mac, OpenSource/Linux)
  • Widespread use of blogs, wikis, webpages, moodle, etc (Web2.0), for classroom instruction.
  • Administrative, parent, board, support of investment in technology
  • Hefty budget
  • We have in house expertise
  • Students have a lot of eagerness, an eagerness to help, and are engadged and enjoy technology.

Weaknesses:
  • Mentality of seeing technology as usurping curriculum instead of enhancing it.
  • We don't know wat technology actually serves student learning best.
  • The 3 divisions are not on the same page as far as philosophy of incorporating academic technology.
  • Fear - "I don't use technology...Will that threaten job security?"
  • Not enough access for students.
  • Wireless not avaiable in all parts of the building.
  • Highly invested in old models (student access, information access, networks, etc.).
  • Balance of technology and teaching (find that sweet spot).
  • Funds for some families to provide computers for children are limited.
  • What the expectations at USM of teachers, parents, and students, regarding use of technology.
  • What is the philosophy at USM regarding tech use.
  • Not enough seeing the rationale for using 21st century tools for teaching 21st century students.
  • What are the defined best practices to integrate technology into instruction?
  • Scope and sequence of information literacy.
  • Who is teaching computer skills/typing curriculum, online research?
  • Better match of national standards (do our teachers even know about them?)
  • Lack of time for Prof Dev.
  • Opportunities for professional growth are not adequatedly shared with faculty.
  • No accessment of new initiatives or professional development (What worked? What didn't? Why? etc.)
  • Some people are not interested in learning about new trends, tech tools, instruction, willingness to see beyond my classrooom and my tried and true 20th century methods.
  • General difficulties with technology (mac compatabilty, issues with students saving favorites or their files, etc.) that take away from classtime of only 45 minutes.
  • Redundancy in the amount of work that faculty have to do in using new and more tools, also creating more work for students, disorganized colletion of resources for families.

Opportunities:
  • Resident faculty experts
  • Phase II
  • Give teachers laptops
  • The sky is the limit. Impact on education of students should be researched and supported.
  • Action research by faculty.
  • Actech opportunites better match branding for future of school.
  • Public Wi-Fi
  • Use technology to bring students together across divisions with Colleges, etc. (tutoring, book clubs, writing partners)
  • Using social networking tools for instruction, collaboration, and communication.
  • Offering online-courses/Virtual Classrooms (i.e. Second Life)
  • Onsite conferences for faculty and outside world done by faculty students.
  • Making all users self suffiicient (troubleshooting, installing, etc.)
  • What specifically are our needs as a school? Let's go for it!! We have the means, take advantage...

Threats:
  • Introducing some technologies for technology sake.
  • Falling behind other schools.
  • Falling behind in general (life, society, etc.) if we stay put.
  • Moore's Law (every 18 months is a technology generational change). A commitment to technology, once it starts is forever on going.
  • Technology dependencies on funds ($$$$)
  • Economic downturn
  • Fear (uncertainty and doom...FUD)
  • Generational differences
  • Without a common goal and philosophy, or expectations of our efforts in technology will always remain random.
  • Equity about access for all of our families.
  • Privacy and saftey of our users.
  • Google makes us stoopid. Kids can't read and analyse in a focused and sustained way.
  • Tradition is being undermined by new technologies.
  • Will technology take something away from out interactions (i.e. the human on the Axiom in "Wall-E")


Afternoon (12:45 - 2:30)

CATEGORIES / IDEAS / DIRECTIONS

  • Professional Development (Need)
    • Accessment of new initiatives, both project related and prof dev.
    • Opportunity for professional growth.
    • Action research by faculty
    • Professional Development (PD) groups - what we have now could grow into peer coaching.
    • Onsite conference for faculty and outside world could be done by internal faculty and students.
    • Opportunities for professional growth are not adequately share with faculty
    • Lack of time for prof dev.

  • Access and Equity
    • No student e-mail
    • Give teachers laptops
    • Multiplatform (I don't think that this is access and equity...should be philosophy and rationale?)
    • Administrative and parent support of investment in technology
    • What we have is current in terms of SW and HW tools (smartboards).
    • Public Wi-Fi
    • Students (most) have access at home
    • Most families have money to provide computers for children
    • Not enough access for students in house in current model
    • Highly invested in old models (student access, information access, networks, etc.).
    • Wireless not available in all parts of the building.

  • Philosophy and Rationale Expectations
    • Waht is the philosophy at USM regarding technology use?
    • Not enough seeing the rationale for using 21st. century tools for teaching 21st century students.
    • Best Practices to integrate tech into instructions (what are they?)
    • What are the expectations at USM of teachers, parents, and students regarding the use of technology

  • Scope and Sequence
    • Scope and sequence of information literacy.
    • Better match of national standards (do our teachers even know about them?)
    • Simple computers for word processing and internet for humanities
    • Digital Citizenship
    • Privacy and safety for all of our users.

  • Benchmarkings, Assessment, and Evaluation
    • Actech opportunites better match branding for future of school.
    • Balance of technology and teaching (find that sweet spot).
    • Who is teaching computer skills/typing curriculum, online research?
    • Students are engaged and enjoy technology
    • The sky is the limit. Impact on education of students should be researched and supported.

  • Physical Space
    • Phase II
    • Rooms not setup for tech use (US English)
    • General difficulties with technology (mac compatabilty, issues with students saving favorites or their files, etc.) that take away from classtime of only 45 minutes.

  • Student Achievement
    • Not enough student collaborative work (outside school)
    • More tech can mean More work for students (WebAssign)
    • We don't know what technology actually servers student learning best.

  • School Culture
    • Mentality of seeing technology as usurping curriculum instead of enhancing it.
    • Fear - "I don't user tech. Will that threaten job security?"
    • Some people are not interested in learning about new trends, tech tools, instruction, willingness to see beyond my classrooom and my tried and true 20th century methods.
    • Openness to new ideas
    • Students buy-in and have an eagerness to help.
    • Strong faculty student relationships
    • Faculty have a very strong sense of USM community, and teachers who genuinely care about kids.
    • The three divisions are not on the same page as far as philosophy of incorporating academic technology.
    • Technology has a perception of eating up moreand more time. Does not necessarily create efficiency, but volume.
    • Technology can provide more time for teaching, not less

  • Resources (Have)
    • Widespread use of blogs, wikis, webpages, moodle, etc. (Web 2.0) for classroom instruction.
    • Heafty budget.
    • A LOT of support if you want to try something new
    • Technology can create redundancy
    • Disorganized collection of resources for families
    • Using social networking tools for instruction, collaboration, and communicaction.
    • Too many apps
    • We have in house expertise
    • What specifically are our needs as a school? Let's go for it!! We have the means for it.
    • Super teamwork between tech and academics.
    • Confusing organization structure (Scope of positions, roles, etc.)
    • Resident faculty experts
    • Motivated faculty and staff

  • Sustainablity
    • One to one

  • Emerging Trends
    • Virtual Classrooms (i.e. second life)
    • Offing Online Courses

  • Collaboration
    • Use tchnology to bring students together across divisions with collegese, etc. (Tutoring, book clubs, writing partners, etc.)
    • Improving school-wide collaboration - reducing silos


Goal of Process:

"Develop an actionable plan to enhance student achievement and prepare students to be successfull in an world with unprecidented access to infomation, communication, and connectivity."



Next Steps:

  • Tie to Future Professional Development
  • Active, informational prof dev mty - write our own rational and have faculty read it at the meeting.
  • Narrow the strategies.
  • Prioritize strategies - Prof Dev is FIRST, esp. if we have a plan for summer
  • Develop tactics for all strategies
  • Board Meeting. 15min presentation.
  • Pocus on balance among all parties (faculty, students, parents, etc.)
  • Next meeting


1/21/2009 - Cory's Reorganization of Strategies

  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    • Opportunities (including summer)
    • Prof Dev groupings (ongoing)
    • Time
    • In-house and outside expertise
  • PHILOSOPHY
    • Rationale for tech use (the changing learner and the 21st Cent. landscape)
    • School culture (mixing need for 21st teaching with established tradition of excellence)
    • Expectations (from all stakeholders)
  • PHYSICAL RESOURCES
    • Access (both wireless and machines)
    • Equity
    • Physical space (i.e. Phase II)
    • Storage (server vs. cloud, server vs. machine)
    • Software needs
    • (Added by Chris) Sustainability...
  • CURRICULUM
    • Scope and sequence (where is technology being "taught"?)
    • Benchmarks (how do we compare to _? Branding.)
    • Assessment and evaluation (how does tech use change tradition assessment?)


1/23/2009 - CARP Meeting

Proposed second draft of Tech Plan Strategies:


  • PHILOSOPHY
    • Rationale for tech use (the changing learner and the 21st Cent. landscape)
    • School culture (mixing need for 21st teaching with established tradition of excellence)
    • Expectations (from all stakeholders)
    • Collaboration
    • Emerging Technologies
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    • Opportunities (including summer)
    • Prof Dev groupings (ongoing)
    • Time
    • In-house and outside expertise
  • RESOURCES
    • Access (both wireless and machines)
    • Equity
    • Physical space (i.e. Phase II)
    • Storage (server vs. cloud, server vs. machine)
    • Software needs
    • Sustainability...
  • CURRICULUM
    • Scope and sequence (where is technology being "taught"?)
    • Benchmarks (how do we compare to _? Branding.)
    • Assessment and evaluation (how does tech use change tradition assessment?)
    • Student Achievement

Goal of Process:

"Develop an actionable plan to enhance student achievement and prepare students to be successful in a world with unprecedented access to information, communication, and connectivity."


Strategies:
  • PHILOSOPHY - "Create a school wide academic technology philosophy"
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT - "Provide professional development opportunities"
  • RESOURCES - "Develop a sustainable technology plan"
  • CURRICULUM - "Articulate educational technology standards in curriculum and instruction at USM"

Action Steps:
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
    • Create formal and informal opportunities for ongoing and embedded PD.
    • Host October 2009 academic technology conference to deepen technology awareness and facilitate professional growth goals.
    • Create and maintain professional development teams centered around common goals.
    • Evaluate PD opportunities provided to faculty members, including faculty feedback in various forms.
    • Create an evaluative process, aligned with new faculty evaluation, for monitoring faculty progress in achieving their technology PD goal.
    • Assess, develop, and use in-house expertise in various areas.
    • Create PD Summer Academy.
    • Collect data (including school visits) about best practices in professional development relating to academic technology.
    • Set an expectation for the creation of annual academic technology PD goals for all faculty.
    • Create parent education academic technology opportunities.

  • PHILOSOPHY
    • Research other Academic Technology philosophies.
    • Gather faculty input to help facilitate the creation of a philosophy statement.
    • Draft and share Academic Technology philosophy statement.

  • CURRICULUM
    • Conduct an Academic Technology audit and gap analysis of our curriculum. (Internal & External)
    • Investigate and determine appropriate external standards, and compare the existing Academic Technology curriculum to those standards
    • Identify challenges and strengths within the Academic Technology curriculum.
    • Use identifed strengths and challenges to affect PD and curriculum decisions.
    • Establish a system for ongoing research of emerging trends in AT

  • RESOURCES
    • Evaluate Technology Member Group Structure.
    • Create Academic Technology Evaluation Group to access up and coming tools and technologies for deployment in USM.
    • Assess and create an accurate picture of student computing technology use and needs from the above Philosophy and Curriculum strategies.
    • Investigate possible change in student computing paradigm (1:1 vs. lab computers).
      • A 1:1 study should include:
        • Operating impact (changes in software licensing, support contracts, depreciation, etc.)
        • Infrastructure impact (changes in network space, wireless access, etc.)
        • Family impact (possible cost increases due to 1:1, financial aid)
        • Support impact (can we do this with our current staff, what vendors will allow us to run our program the way we want to)
        • Academic impact (students and faculty)
      • A Student Lab study should include:
        • Operating impact
        • Infrastructure impact
        • Space considerations (Do we need/get more real estate?)
        • Family impact (how do we pay for more labs? Tech fee?)
    • Make decision on student computing future.
    • Investigate changes to budget distrubutions with regard to technology.
    • Investigate possible shift from local/lan based group sharing to more cloud based enviornment.
    • Funding for PD opportunities, etc.


NEXT STEPS:


1. Create Action steps for three remaining strategies:
  • Philosophy - Cory and Nikki
  • Resources - Chris
  • Curriculum - Cory and Nikki

2. Schedule TSC meetings from now till end of school year - Gregg and Chris.

3. Create Board Tech Presentation - Gregg, Chris, Cory, and Nikki.**